"MUST DO" SUGGESTIONS-Hawaii, Maui & Lanai
 

We are traveling to the Hawaiian Islands for our mid-October honeymoon and it seems like this board is full of great knowledge! Please provide any input into things we should see/do on The Big Island, Maui and Lanai. Are there any spectacular beaches that we can go to outside of the resorts? In Hawaii and Maui we are at 4S/on Lanai-Manele Bay. Thanks---all suggestions greatly appreciated!

You should not have trip to the islands without a night time look at the volocano. The last Queen of Hawaiian wrote that it was one the most important natural experiences you could have in your life. She use to do mid-night tours of the volcano. I read this in her biography and discovered the best adventure hawaii has to offer. Don't panic park rangers are still out there after dark. A trip up haleakela (sp), drive to hana very important to rent a tape and stop off along the way and check out the bamboo, GIANT tropical flowers and the like. A drive on your own will afford beautiful veiws but not the know how of the tapes you can rent in snorkel shops (Lahaina). Make sure your rental car has a tape deck. Avalon for dinner in Lahiana if you enjoy gourmet fare. They have been in several top notch food magazines and are reasonably priced. My sister tells me there is now an award wining Lua on Maui but I have yet to find. This month the travel channel has several Hawaiian trip programs scheduled to air.

What a cool trip!! On the BI, the must-dos would absolutely include the volcano. I'd add the City of Refuge south of Kona, and if you like to snorkel a trip to Kealakekua Bay (the Fair Wind boat from Keahoe is loads of fun). You might want to do the volcano by helicopter--you can leave right from Waikoloa near the 4S. IMHO the most spectaular beaches are at neighboring resorts--Mauna Kea and Hapuna especially. There are also amazing beaches accessible on foot across the lava. The Rough Guide or Big Island Revealed books will tell you how to get there. Have fun!

Don't even CONSIDER doing a search on similar phoney Hawaii enquiries that have been done hundreds of times before by Travel Agents such as yourself.

I'm not sure if this guy is referring to me as the "troll" but I assure you I AM going to Hawaii on my honeymoon and spent a ton of time researching where to visit/stay so am really excited to find out what to do now from those who have been! I can't wait already and am buying the books suggested. Thanks for your suggestions...anymore would be greatly appreciated. I'd also like to know if it's better to eat at your resort or go out to other restaurants on the islands? I've only been to Caribbean and always basically stayed on-site. Thanks again!

Troll Detector is paranoid. We had some super meals on the BI that I'd recommend checking out. We had one dinner at the 4S (Pahu'ia) which was great, but you might like to get out a bit too. We really liked Merriman's in Waimea (up in the mountains; total change of scenery & climate from Kohala), Roy's in Waikoloa, and the Paradise Spice Cafe in a strip mall down in Kona. If you're down south of Kona, Edward's restaurant at the Kanaloa condo complex has a phenomenal sunset view; food's fine and not overpriced, but the view & setting are amazing.

If you like horseback riding, you absolutely must take ride on Maui with Makena Stables on the southeastern corner of Maui. We lived in Hawaii for three years and did many different things and that three hour ride remains one of our most favorite things!